July 30 '07: The Times Picayune in New Orleans reported over the weekend that Army Corps of Engineers officials have downgraded their levee designs "for long-term flood control projects" from a Category 5 preparedness level to a "Katrina-like event". The announcement came during a National Research Council committee briefing, the Picayune reported.

The Picayune found that "using a Katrina-like storm as a standard for protection ... could leave the region more vulnerable than so-called Category 5 protection. In corps parlance, Category 5 protection corresponds roughly to a worst-case storm with only a 1-in-1000 chance of striking Louisiana in a given year," while a Katrina-like storm has a 1-in-400 chance.

"The decision to use the less powerful model storm grew out of a 2005 meeting with hurricane and storm researchers from around the world, including engineers from the Netherlands, to discuss how to design levees for a Category 5 hurricane, said Van Stutts, a corps hydraulics expert," the Picayune continued.